Simple stored procedure - select with an if statement, returning a cursor

Question

Hi,
I'm trying to create a very simple stored procedure, but having never worked with them before I'm not quite sure what I'm doing wrong.
Here's my code:
create or replace
procedure contact_return(
    v_contact_id IN varchar2,
    p_cursor OUT SYS_REFCURSOR)
AS
begin
  set sql_statement varchar2(4000) := '
    SELECT URN,
      FIRSTNAME,
      LASTNAME,
      TITLE,
      CREATED_DT,
      AREA_URN,
      MOBILE,
      WORK,
      EMAIL,
      ORG_NAME,
      ADDRESS,
      POSTCODE,
      IN_USE
    FROM CONTACT';
  if v_contact_id is not null then
    sql_statement := sql_statement || ' where urn = ' || v_contact_id;
  end if;
  open p_cursor for sql_statement;
end;
It's actually returning 2 errors:
Error(7,3): PL/SQL: SQL Statement ignored
Error(7,7): PL/SQL: ORA-00922: missing or invalid option
Which seem to be a problem with my set sql_statement line, but it looks correct to me?
Thanks

Answer 1

rajendra wrote:
Dear User,
It is not allowed to declare a variable inside the PL/SQL block means after begin ( in your case line no 7 ).
Lot of errors in your code.
Tell me your exact requirement and what you want to do , after that I will be able to solve your problem.
Thanks,
Rajendra
Well, you can declare after the begin, though it'll be as part of an embedded code block e.g.
SQL> ed
Wrote file afiedt.buf
  1  create or replace procedure contact_return(empno IN  number
  2                                            ,c     OUT SYS_REFCURSOR
  3                                            ) AS
  4  begin
  5    declare
  6      sql_statement varchar2(4000) := '
  7        select *
  8        from emp
  9        where empno = nvl(:1,empno)';
10    begin
11      open c for sql_statement using contact_return.empno;
12    end;
13* end;
SQL> /
Procedure created.
SQL> var x refcursor
SQL> exec contact_return(7788,:x);
PL/SQL procedure successfully completed.
SQL> print x;
     EMPNO ENAME      JOB              MGR HIREDATE                    SAL       COMM     DEPTNO
      7788 SCOTT      ANALYST         7566 19-APR-1987 00:00:00       3000                    20
so, it is allowed, as long as it's coded correctly.